May 6, 2014

The economic rationality of polygamy

Becker said quite a few other wacky things in the Treatise. For instance, he performed a formal mathematical proof that purports to demonstrate that women are better off under polygamy, because, given Becker’s theoretical assumptions, their income under polygamy would be higher. H’okay.

Useful lesson for theorists of all types. If your theory leads to conclusions which are palpably crazy, abandon it.